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Denny Hamlin was one of eight drivers to break the previous qualifying record at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Thursday night. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

As darkness approached and temperatures dipped Thursday evening, the question along pit road and in the garages became, “How fast can a Sprint Cup car go around Charlotte Motor Speedway?” The answer came late in the qualifying session for Sunday night's Coca-Cola 600.

It was: pretty damned fast.

Eight drivers broke the previous qualifying record of 193.708 miles per hour, a record set by Greg Biffle in the fall of 2012. The fastest of the fast on Thursday night was pole winner Denny Hamlin in a Toyota from Joe Gibbs Racing. It was the 14th pole of his career, his second this year and his first since suffering a serious back injury in a last-lap crash with Joey Logano on March 24 in Fontana, Calif. He missed four races and dropped to 31st in points, but has come back to 27th and is determined to win enough races to make the Chase for the Championship as a wild card entry. His lap of 195.624 mph easily beat the 195.221 mph of Kurt Busch, the 195.094 mph of Matt Kenseth, the 194.595 mph of Mark Martin and the 194.503 mph of Clint Bowyer.

“The crew gave me a pole-winning car, but we didn't get a pole-winning draw,” said No. 2 qualifier Busch, who ran midway through the session, before the track cooled. “The crew did its job, but I didn't do mine. I didn't hit my marks in [turns] three and four exactly right. I knew somebody might be able to beat me, but I was hoping for a gift. We were tied when Denny went over the [turn 3] tunnel, and he made up the difference by the time he came off turn four.”

Hamlin said he wasn't sure he could beat Busch until Busch told the PA announcer he'd missed his marks in turns three and four. “My approach was to wait until after Kurt said and gauge from that,” said Hamlin, who went 40th, almost at the end of the line, when the track was in shade and cooler. “Was he gonna say he got everything he could from the car or was he gonna say he left something out there? When he said what he did about turns three-four, I knew I was capable of beating him, I knew the window was open. The car was so planted on the track that it wasn't that hard to drive.”

He said winning the pole is good, but winning the race would be a huge step toward making the Chase. “Winning would be redemption after coming back from the back surgery,” he said. “Ultimately, getting the big trophy on Sunday night is the validation that you're truly back. It's going to take some wins and some really good consistency throughout the summer to put ourselves in position for the championship. That's what we're here for, and even these small victories give me the confidence that I'm still capable, still able to do the job at 100 percent.”

Thursday's was this season's seventh record-setting qualifying session. Kyle Busch set records at Bristol and Texas, Johnson at Martinsville, Kenseth at Kansas City and Richmond, and Kurt Busch two weeks ago at Darlington. NASCAR's new Gen 6 car is generally credited with being more aerodynamic than previous versions, and that's been the key to faster laps.